The subject invention is directed to an easy-to-use strategy for managing device dependent information in an open computer system to facilitate configuration of the system by the user. By an open computer system, what is meant is a computer system in which peripheral devices may be added to or deleted from the computer system at any time. Besides adding or deleting devices, the invention allows the modification of device dependent information in such a way that the user always preceives the device dependent information as a single entity even though it comprises adapter specific information and device specific information.
Personal computers have come into wide spread use by a variety of people and have generally been credited with creating a revolution in the computer industry. A characteristic of these computers is their "open" design allowing the basic computer system to be configured to the special needs of the end user. A wide variety of peripheral devices and device adapters are available from both computer manufacturers and third part vendors. The trend is for the end user to separately purchase the basic computer system, the peripheral devices s/he needs for a specific application or applications, and the device adapters required to support the peripheral devices and assemble the various components into an operative computer system. This process involves more than merely plugging adapter cards into the system bus and cabling the various components together; it is also necessary to tell the computer, or rather its operating system, what devices are in the system. This process is referred to as "installing" the devices and requires specifying the device parameters or, as used in this application, the device dependent information (DDI). This task can be quite complicated and normally should not be undertaken by any but experienced technicians. Typically, software applications for personal computers include a simple installation procedure which merely gives the user a choice of a limited selection of, for example, printers for which the parameters have been stored in the operating system. The installation process is confined to the selection of one of the listed printers, and there is typically no easy way to add or modify the device dependent information. Therefore, if the device which the user desires to install in his or her system is not listed in the application program, there is no easy way even for a relatively sophisticated user to input the required device dependent information to the operating system so as to support a specific device.
Application Ser. No. 06/703,922 for "Modification of Device Configuration by User" by the applicants herein describes a procedure wherein an "ADDDEV" command is provided which may be invoked by the user to specify an action on a device such as add, delete or modify. Once the action is selected by the user, the system prompts the user to enter the name of a default or similar device already installed in the system. The system stores the parameters of both default devices and devices already installed in the system. When the user enters the name of a default or similar device to be added, for example, the system determines, from the stored parameters for the default or similar device, only those parameters which must be specified by the user for the device to be added. The remaining parameters are propagated for the similar device from the settings of the default device. The user is then prompted to enter only those parameters requiring specification, and once those parameters have been entered, the entered parameters and those common to both the default or similar device named by the user and the added device are stored. Once these parameters are stored, the installation of the added device has been completed. A similar process permits modification of device parameters for devices which have been previously installed to allow for those situations where a previously installed device has been modified to provide other or additional features.